


Nowhere To Run (This Is The Hunt)

by SoWrongItsLottie



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, a whole lot of whump, whumptober2020
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:28:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26802166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoWrongItsLottie/pseuds/SoWrongItsLottie
Summary: This is a collection of different prompts which reign from various prompt lists found primarily on Tumblr.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 12
Kudos: 51





	1. Let's Hang Out Sometime (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: _**Waking Up Restrained / Shackled / Hanging**_

Alec lets out a groan as he is shoved onto his knees, the movement causing the cool metal of the shackles to bite into his skin.

It was the pain from the chains cutting into his skin that had awoken Alec from unconsciousness and into this nightmare.

His head had been pounding and felt like a ton of lead, his tongue felt fuzzy and his vision had been hazy around the edges. It didn’t take him long to realize that he had been drugged, but it took him a while to remember how as the last thing he was able to clearly recall was leaving Magnus’s loft to head back to the Institute but after that… everything just went blank until he woke up, shivering and bruised in a dingy room, his wrists and ankles shackled to the floor behind him, the position making it near on impossible for him to move further than a foot away. Alec remembers feeling his heart beat a thousand miles an hour as he tries to push through the haze in his mind but it was no use, he couldn’t focus on anything other than fear.

Bowing his head, Alec sucks in a breath and tries to push the memory of the last twenty-four hours from his mind.

He needs to focus on the here and now.

He needs to focus on getting out of this, alive.

To his left, Alec can hear one of the assigned guards securing the end of the chains that were binding his wrists to a ring that had been cemented into the ground, holding him in place. Alec wanted to laugh at the idea of them thinking he was even capable of escaping in this state; Valentine Morgenstern had made sure that his freedom wasn’t an option. The bruises that were scattered over his body was only the beginning of a long list of injuries that he was currently nursing. Every single inch of his body was crying out in agony and exhaustion, but he wasn’t prepared to give up.

“I must say, Alexander, you’ve surprised me,” Valentine’s voice, low and amused, speaks out from the shadows. “You are nothing like your parents; at this point, they would have been begging to join my side, but you… there’s something about you...”

At the sound of his voice, Alec turns his head slowly in the direction which the words came, his eyes desperately trying to pick up on any sign of movement, even if was just small enough to give him an indication of where Valentine was lurking, but it was near on impossible to focus. The guards had made sure that is left eye was swollen to the point where he couldn’t even open his eyelid, and his right eye was red-rimmed, his vision blurry from the tears he had fought to keep from falling. He knew that impairing his vision was just another precaution Valentine had put into place in an attempt to stump his escape but Alec was terrified that it was going to have a lasting effect on his sight.

“I’m never going to join you, so what do you want with me?” Alec asks into the shadows, his voice as broken as his body.

Valentine simply laughs in response, the sound causing a shiver to run down Alec’s spine as he continues to look slowly round at the shadows.

“I don’t want to do anything with you, “ Valentine chuckles, taking a step forward into the light a few feet away from where Alec was kneeling. “You’re simply here as bait. It’s my son that I want, and what better way to draw him out of the Institute by holding his _Parabatai_ hostage?”

“You really think Jace is going to fall for this?” Alec asks, his words dripping with disgust. “You’re even stupider than I thought.”

Valentine lets out a low growl and lunges forward, grasping Alec by the throat and hauling him to him feet, his face inches from his own. Alec tries not to look at Valentine as he lets out a choked breath but the older man squeezes his throat tighter and Alec has no choice but to look at him.

“If I were you, I’d shut your mouth,” Valentine hisses.

Alec knows better than to give a verbal response so instead he just gives one sharp nod.

Valentine sneers as he shoves Alec back down on the floor and ignores the pained groans that leave the young Shadowhunters lips as he curls into a fetal position, the chains binding him rattling as he moves. He turns his back on Alec and says, “You’re a pathetic excuse for a Lightwood. How my son deemed you _worthy_ of becoming his _Parabatai_ , I’ll never know. Then again, I suppose it runs in the family. Mine was a pathetic choice too.”

“Out of you and Luke, it’s you that’s the pathetic one,” Alec growls through gritted teeth.

The comment earns him a kick from Valentine into his chest, knocking the breath out of Alec as he curls further into himself.

“You obviously don’t know _Lucian_ as well as you think,” Valentine sneers.

Alec doesn’t say anything in response to this comment, it probably wouldn’t do him any favors if he did. As much as he wants to defend Luke, he knows that with Valentine, he would just be wasting his breath. Alec knows that Luke is a good person, he knows that he’s loyal and he would put his pack and the people he cares about before himself. Alec admires him for that and despite what Valentine thinks, that’s all Alec needs to know.

“Now, enough talking. It’s time to get my son here.”

Before Alec could say anything, the guards stepped closer and grabbed hold of an arm each, yanking him backwards and pinning him to the ground, the chains digging into his back as Valentine crouches by his side, tugging Alec’s t-shirt up high enough to reveal his _Parabatai_ Rune. Alec tries to struggle against the guards but they were much stronger. Alec could see the glint of Valentine’s Stele inching closer and closer to his skin, and he braces himself. The pain is more than he can take as Valentine uses his Stele to burn through the Rune.

Alec throws his head back upon contact and screams as he doubles his efforts to break free.

Valentine was done as soon as he started, straightening back up and admiring his work as Alec pants through the pain.

If Alec hadn’t had a swollen eye, he would be clenching them both shut, trying to breathe through the pain from his Rune, and the one in his chest from where Valentine had kicked him. But he couldn’t. Instead, he struggles with every breath as his head rolls to the side, his chest rising and falling at an alarming pace as he rides through the burning of his skin. There was no way that Jace wouldn’t have been able to feel that through their bond.

“Take him below deck,” Valentine orders, his eyes narrowing as he makes a move towards the shadows once more. “Once you’re done, get yourselves back up here because if that doesn’t lure Jonathan away from the Institute then I’ll need you to put Plan B into action.”

Alec tries to open his mouth to protest, but all he can do is groan in pain. He looks around with his one, semi-decent eye and notes that the guards were already unleashing the chains from the ring in the cement and he cries out as they pull him to his feet and drag him towards the ships doors.

Below deck turns out to be even worse than Alec could have imagined.

There were holes in the walls which was allowing the lapping waves to trickle in, turning the already darkened wood into a rotting, green mess. Sucking in a deep breath, Alec could smell the strong odor of damp in the air and he could see in parts, that large patches of moss was starting to form along the top of the creaking walls. His allocated ‘cell’ was not much better. The smell of damp was stronger in here, and the water that had managed to break through the ships walls, has gathered in a shallow puddle beneath his feet.

Alec lets out an involuntary shiver as the guards drag him in and over to the far wall where two rusted rings protrude from the floor, empty and waiting. Without saying a word, the guards give each other a brief nod before shoving Alec’s aching body to the floor, one of them holding him in place while the other reattaches the chains of Alec’s shackles back around the rings. The guard holding him needn’t have bothered, Alec had no strength left in him to fight them, his earlier struggles proving that any future attempt would be futile. So instead, he just lays on the rotten, wet floor.

Once the guards are finished, the larger of the two delivers one more swift kick to Alec’s chest and then they both leave.

As Alec curls in on himself, struggling to breathe, he finally allows the tears that he had been holding back to fall freely down his bruised cheeks.


	2. In the Hands of the Enemy (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: _**"Pick Who Dies" / Collars / Kidnapped**_

Alec shivers as he leans up against the cold stone of the cell, his arms unable to wrap themselves around his knees as he pulls them up to his chest. The chains still binding his wrists and ankles, the metal jangling as he moves. Alec knew that he was making a futile attempt to preserve what little body warmth he had left but he couldn’t help it, his mind was stuck in survival mode. Through the shivering of his body, and the coldness of his skin, Alec didn’t notice the tears that were trailing down his cheeks; he was numb to every sensation apart from the biting cold.

Taking in a painful breath, Alec rests his head back against the rotting wood of the ship, his swollen eye throbbing while his other stings with fresh tears. He has no idea how long he has been in this rotting mess of a ‘cell’ but he really hopes that he can get free and find his way back to Magnus soon. Alec relishes in the thought of laying with Magnus in bed, his arms around his waist while he rests his head on his chest, the silk sheets pulled right up, tucking underneath his chin as he snuggles closer to his boyfriend. Alec swallows the lump in his throat as he holds back a sob. If only he had stayed in the apartment just that little bit later, if only he had taken Magnus up on his offer of breakfast in bed. If only…

The sound of footsteps outside the door, brings him out of his self-reflection and regret.

As he listens to the approaching footsteps, Alec can feel his heart start beating a hundred miles an hour. Anxiety and fear take control and Alec has to remind himself that he needs to breathe, he can’t allow himself to freak out if he has any chance of surviving. He shuffles slowly back against the rotting wood, his breathing heavy as he watches the door to the ‘cell’ open and the two guards from earlier stepped back in, the footfalls heavy.

For a moment they don’t do anything, they just stand in front of Alec, completely silent, their gazes piercing and set in Alec’s direction, making him shrink further against the wall. But after what feels like ten minutes, they step forward, the larger of the two guards grabs hold of Alec by his shoulders and proceeds to pull him onto his feet while the other guard crouches down to release the chains from the rusted rings that were sticking out of the floor. Without a word, they pull Alec along through the dingy corridor of the ship and up onto the open deck where Valentine stands waiting.

“It seems as though burning through your _Parabatai_ Rune wasn’t enough to draw my son out,” Valentine explains, his voice low and even but Alec can still detect the disappointment that Valentine was currently feeling towards Jace for ignoring his summoning attempt.

Alec desperately wanted to open his mouth to say ‘ _I told you so_ ’ but he knew he wouldn’t be able to take another kick to his chest.

“It’s a shame, really… but if the roles were reversed, would you come running to save him?”

Valentine muses his own question as he paces in front of Alec.

Alec knows that Valentine is trying to get a response from him, but he was too exhausted and in pain to give him one. But the truth is, Alec would come running to save Jace, and he knows that Valentines knows he would as well. When Jace came to live at the Institute with the Lightwood family, Alec found himself starting to love Jace as more than a friend, more than a _Parabatai_ and it had scared him. Until he met Magnus, Alec kept trying to tell himself that his feelings were all wrong, that he shouldn’t and couldn’t love Jace because not only would his parents disapprove, but he also knew that the Clave would frown upon his feelings and he didn’t want to think about what would have happened, had they found out.

Alec would always follow Jace into difficult situations, he would always go against his better judgement if it meant keeping Jace alive and Alec knew that Jace would do the same for him, but standing on the top deck of a ship, chained and being held in place by Valentine’s guards as the freezing New York wind laps at his skin, Alec is starting to doubt if Jace will even show. Despite the frequent jokes he makes, Alec knows that his _Parabatai_ isn’t stupid, Jace would surely know that it’s a trap and would be working with Isabelle and Magnus to save him. He was sure of it.

“Not in the mood for talking? Well, no worries. I guess we’ll just have to show Jonathan our Plan B.”

With a snap of Valentine’s fingers, the guards flanking Alec moved away and disappeared through a door to the port side of the ship. It doesn’t take them long to return and when they do, they’re dragging a limp body between them, a dark cloth covering their head. Alec doesn’t need to see their face in order to know who they were carrying, and his stomach twists painfully as he catches a glimpse of silver encircling slender fingers.

 _No, please, for the love of the Angel, no_ … Alec silently pleads.

The guards drop the body on the floor at Valentine’s feet and return to take their places on either side of Alec.

As he continues to look forward at the crumpled, hooded body, Alec could feel his heart jump into his throat as he watches Valentine crouch down, one scarred hand reaching out and grabbing hold of the fine piece of clothing. With a small grunt of effort, he hoists the body up and draws his blade from its sheath. Alec wants to scream at him to stop, to put his weapon away but the words are stuck in his throat.

Valentine takes a moment to look over at Alec, a smug smirk firmly in place as he moves the blade closer to the edge of the hood.

“Tell me, Alexander, what would your precious Clave think of kidnapping a High Warlock?”

Alec’s eyes widen as Valentine pulls the hood away, revealing Magnus’s beautiful face beneath.

From where he was kneeling, Alec could vaguely see the outline of bruises trailing down from Magnus’s cheek down to his collarbone, and his heart clenches tightly in his chest when he spots the thick leather collar encircling his boyfriend’s neck. Alec instantly knew that it was not a fashion choice that Magnus had made when he started getting dressed; Alec has seen Magnus’s entire range of accessories and not once has he ever seen him pick out a collar to wear. Numerous amounts of necklaces, yes, but collars… absolutely not.

Valentine follows Alec’s gaze and let out a sickening chuckle.

“Admiring the collar, are we? I don’t blame you, it’s absolutely beautiful and it has been specifically designed to control and command disgusting Downworlders. If Mr Bane here so much as steps out of line, one quick press of this button here, and he gets to feel the power of electricity.”

Alec watches as Valentine places his Seraph blade on the ground and reaches into his pocket to pull out a little black box. To Alec, it looked nothing more than a remote control that Mundanes used to change channels on their screens but Alec knew better than to be so naïve. He knew what the device would do and he wanted to be sick. Valentine had actually made a collar that would allow him to control Downworlders without having to use any of the Mortal Instruments. If he wished to, he could have Magnus use his magic to inflict a great deal of damage on himself… or on Alec.

As Valentine puts the black box back into his pocket and reaches for his Seraph blade, Alec takes his chance to lunge his aching body forward. His efforts are in vain as the chains and Valentine’s men hold him back, and he flinches as the sound of Valentine’s laughter reaches his ears.

“You really are surprising me, Alexander,” Valentine laughs, his tone full of amusement as he stands straighter, his hand still gripped round the material of Magnus’s shirt, keeping his body raised from the ship’s deck. “I wouldn’t worry, your little Downworlder here isn’t in any danger… yet. One of my men is just going to send your _Parabatai_ a little message.” Valentine pauses as he drags Magnus over to where Alec was being held and dumps him on the faded and wet wood before turning his attention to one of the guards. “Make sure you get both of them in the photo.”

Out of his peripheral vision, Alec could see one of the guards walking over to a table by the doors they had dragged him through and he watched, wide-eyed, as the man picks up Alec’s cell phone before holding it up in their direction.

“Say cheese,” Valentine sneers as he delivers a swift kick to Alec’s chest.

Alec lets out an agonized cry as he feels his ribs give out under the force of Valentine’s attack and as he hunches forward in the other guard’s hold, struggling to suck in a single breath, he sees the flash of the camera going off before he hears the sound of Valentine’s heavy footfalls walking away.

“Send the photo to Isabelle Lightwood with a message for Jonathan that will lure him here.” Valentine orders.

“Sir,” the guard holding the phone grunts. “Would you like us to take them back below deck?”

Valentine stops in his tracks as he looks over his shoulder at Alec and an unconscious Magnus, through his ruined vision, Alec could make out the narrowed eyes and sick grin of Valentine as he opens his mouth to say, “No. I’ve got a better idea for them but until Jonathan arrives, just leave them chained out here; Alexander looks as though he could do with some fresh air.”

With that, Valentine turns and disappears through one of the ships doors.

The guards holding Alec, double-check that his chains were secured to another ring that was protruding from the deck before moving round Alec in order to reach Magnus. Alec watched in horror as they attached two smaller chains to the ring on the collar, the ends of which were then secured tightly to a second ring on the floor, a few feet away from Alec before they focused on securing the thick manacles around Magnus’s own wrists to the ring behind him. Once they were happy that the chains were secure, the smallest of the two men reached out and strapped what appeared to be a muzzle round Magnus’s head, and Alec’s stomach lurched when he saw that there was a gag attached which the guard forced into Magnus’ mouth.

The other guard was watching Alec intently as his colleague was securing the muzzle and gag on Magnus, and a chuckle slipped through his lips as he reached out and took hold of a second muzzle. “Don’t worry, the Boss has instructed us to put one on you too; can’t have you screaming for help.”

Alec started to struggle, his head shaking from side to side in order to stop the guard but it was too late, the guard that was securing Magnus came over and held his head in a vice-like grip while the other strapped the godforsaken muzzle on him, his fingers roughly shoving the gag into Alec’s mouth, causing him to choke on what little air he could get as fresh tears sprung to his swollen and red-rimmed eyes. Alec tried to scream at the guards as they took a step back, admiring their handiwork, but the gag was muffling any sound that he could manage.

Without saying another word, the two guards laughed at Alec before moving to their posts on either side of the ship, leaving Alec to tremble as the cold air bit sharply into his skin, and he turned his head to look at Magnus. He could see that his Warlock was in bad shape and he could only pray to Raziel that he was still alive. Magnus’s body was too still and Alec struggled to see the subtle rise and fall of his chest.

How did Valentine’s men even manage to kidnap a High Warlock?

Magnus was nothing short of paranoid about the strength of his wards, and there was no way that he would have allowed a Circle member to enter his apartment… unless, they were glamoured, but even so, Alec knew that Magnus was diligent and he would have prepared for glamours. Regardless of how they had gotten through Magnus’s wards, they had managed to kidnap and put a collar and chains on him.

He was now just as trapped as Alec was.

Any hope Alec had of surviving seemed to be dwindling a little bit more, and as the sky opens up above them, allowing the build-up of rain to crash over their heads, soaking their skin and clothes, all Alec could do was bow his head and pray to the Angel that Jace will turn up soon to save them.


	3. My Way Or The Highway (Part Three)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: _**Manhandled / Forced To Their Knees / Held At Gunpoint**_

The sound of heavy grunts and the sharp thwack of skin connecting with leather echoes through the corridors of the Institute.

_Thwack… thwack, thwack… thwack…_

Within the spacious training room, a tall and heavy boxing bag is swinging dangerously back and forth on its base as grunts continue to escape through Jace’s lips, his fists keeping up a fast pace as he directs hit after hit at the shiny leather bag.

_Thwack… thwack, thwack… thwack…_

He had come out of his room earlier that evening, once he had been able to move from the crippling pain his _Parabatai_ Rune was giving him. Jace knew that something bad was happening to Alec, and he wanted to head out and save him, but none of the Shadowhunter’s have been able to track his location. Even as hard as Clary tried with a new Tracking Rune that she was developing; it was no good. It was like something – or _someone_ \- was blocking them from finding him. So, Jace decided to vent out some of his frustration and headed straight to the boxing bag.

It was his go-to activity when he needed to work through some issues, and his _Parabatai_ being missing for two days now certainly qualified. With every second that Alec was missing passed, Jace found that he was getting more and more anxious. He knew in his heart that Alec could protect himself, that he can face anything that’s thrown at him, but his mind on the other hand… Jace didn’t want to spare any attention on his thoughts. Jace knew that it he did, then he would just find himself heading into a downward spiral, unable to reach the surface again.

He needed a clear head, which is where the boxing bag came in handy.

_Thwack… thwack, thwack… thwack…_

“You’re going to do yourself an injury if you’re not careful,” Isabelle’s voice calls up from the main floor. “Have you even slept?”

The sound of her voice startles Jace as he grabs hold of the boxing bag but he relaxes again when he realizes that she was on her own. Jace doesn’t think that he would have been able to deal with anyone else at the moment, not when he was too busy worrying about his _Parabatai_. Jace had to admit that even talking to Clary would be too much, and he doesn’t even want to think about how he’d feel if she brought Simon into the mix. Ever since he started dating Isabelle, he’s become a lot less annoying to Jace, but still… he could be doing without the vampire until they locate Alec.

“No, and I take it there still hasn’t been any word from anyone about Alec?” Jace asks as he steps away from the boxing bag.

“Not yet, and to make matter worse, I can’t get hold of Magnus either,” Isabelle replies as she steps fully into the room and hands Jace a towel.

Jace’s eyebrows furrow in thought as he mumbles out a quiet ‘ _Thanks_ ’.

“I want to say that Magnus it out there looking for Alec but Simon swung by his apartment earlier this evening and he says the place has been completely torn apart. It’s like there were Demons there which is impossible because Magnus’s wards are always in place to shut everyone out… unless it’s someone he knows and trusts that’s trying to enter. I told Simon to contact Raphael and to make sure that the Vamps get out to join the search for Alec as soon as the sun sets but… it’s been two days since we heard anything from him, so who knows if he’s still…”

“He is,” Jace says quickly, his tone sharp as he glares in her direction. “I can still feel him.”

“Jace…” Isabelle starts but she trails off.

She knows that Jace is worried about Alec, hell she is too, he’s her brother so of course she’s going to be worried about him, but she had never seen Jace this unsure and unbalanced. Even with everything they had gone through since Clary had entered their lives and they found out she was Valentine’s daughter. It threw them a little, sure, Jace especially as he was under the impression that he was her brother but… this…

“I know… I know that you can still feel him through the Rune, and I’m glad of that because it tells us that his heart is still beating, but, Jace, when you felt that pain earlier, that scared the crap out of me because just for a second, I thought that you were feeling my brother die. For just that one second, I thought I had lost him, that _we_ had lost him. But that still doesn’t change the fact that we don’t know where he is, or who is hurting him.”

Jace's shoulders slump a little as he uses the boxing bag for support.

Isabelle’s not wrong, it scared the crap out of him too when he felt the burning of the Rune and just like Izzy, he too thought that Alec had died. It was only when he could breathe properly that he lifted his shirt and closed his eyes in relief when he saw that the _Parabatai_ Rune was still inked across his skin. Even now, under the thin layer of sweat, he can see the boldness of the edges, which tells him that Alec is still alive.

He leans forward ever so slightly, his forehead resting against the bag, his eyes closing as he focuses on his breathing.

“Why don’t you go grab a shower and get some rest?” Isabelle suggests softly, watching Jace with a cautious gaze.

Jace opens his eyes and lifts his head to look in her direction, and she doesn’t miss the hesitancy in his eyes.

“If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”

He stares at her for another minute before letting out a sigh and nodding.

As he passes, he quickly takes hold of Isabelle’s hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze, it was his way of telling her that he was sorry and that he would be there for her if the worst was to happen. She squeezes back a moment later, silently telling him that she was glad he was here and that he didn’t need to apologize. A wry smile finds its way onto his lips and he lets got of her hand as he turns to leave the training room.

Jace makes quick work of the shower and he crashes on top of his bed sheets ten minutes later, his mind too full and his anxiety levels too high to be able to sleep. It was a pattern he had grown to know quite well growing up. Whenever he was feeling anxious or too worked up, he would just lay there on the bed, his hands fiddling restlessly with something or another as he stares up at the ceiling with a somber expression on his face.

Tonight, was no different from his previous experiences.

His mind was just running on overdrive as he thought about Alec, where he could be, who he was with, and as Jace’s hand rests lightly on top of his _Parabatai_ Rune, he wonders what had happened to Alec in order for the Rune to have hurt so much. Jace didn’t want to think of Alec being hurt at all, just the mere thought was too painful to bear, but… something _had_ happened, he had felt it through their connection and it threw him. The only time he had ever felt that kind of pain was when Alec had tried to sever their connection to get Jace’s attention, but… this felt different, somehow. Jace not only felt the burning, but he could feel Alec’s pain and fear as if it was his own.

Shaking his head, Jace shuffles round to lie on his right side, his head facing his bedroom door as he clenches the bed sheets in his fists. He can feel his anxiety starting to rise and he sucks in a breath, counts to ten, lets it slowly out and repeats.

 _We’re going to find you, Alec, and when we do, I’m going to bring you home_.

He knows it’s stupid to make a promise like that; he doesn’t know what’s going to happen, but as he closes his eyes, he can’t help but believe it.

Jace was just starting to feel himself drifting off in a light sleep, when the sound of his phone alerting him to an incoming call from Isabelle caused him to jolt upright, his hands scrambling to pick up the phone and quickly tapping the ‘ **Accept** ’ button as he presses the phone to his ear.

“Izzy, what…?” Jace starts to ask, but he’s quickly cut off by Isabelle’s frantic voice.

“ _You need to get your butt down to the main floor… now_."

Jace opens his mouth to ask Isabelle a question, but before he could get the words out, she had already ended the call.

He shoves the phone into his sweatpants pocket and hastily throws on a clean black t-shirt and his boots before he heads out of his bedroom. It was like his feet were moving of their own accord as he wandered quickly through the familiar hallways. Isabelle’s urgent tone was repeating on a loop in his mind. He was so lost in thought that he almost ran straight into her as he turned the corner into the main Headquarters of the Institute.

“Iz, what’s going on?” Jace asks, his voice steady.

He was glad about that, because on the inside he was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

“We’ve just got a message through from Valentine and… you need to see this,” Isabelle breathes as her fingers tap at the tablet in her hands, and a second later she flicks the image from the tablet onto the larger screen. “He’s taken Magnus and Alec and he’s demanding that you go to him.”

On the large screen, Jace saw his _Parabatai_ and the Warlock they pretty much considered to be part of the family, bound in thick chains, with numerous bruises covering the skin that was visible and Jace’s stomach twists in a tight knot at the sight of the collar wrapped around Magnus’s neck. Growing up with Valentine on the outskirts of Idris, Jace became familiar with the collars abilities and he has to suppress a chilling shudder at the thought of Magnus being subjected to this form of torture. The sight of the collar was enough to help him tear his eyes away from Magnus, and instead he takes in the sight of Alec; his heart breaking for his _Parabatai_. There was a great deal of pain showing on his face, and Jace knew that what Alec was feeling from his own injuries was nothing compared to the sight of his beloved Warlock, collared, beaten, bound and unconscious at his feet.

“Where are they?” Jace hears himself asking, his gaze still focused on the screen in front of him.

"I’m not sure…” Isabelle whispered before clearing her throat and zooming into the background of the photo as she continues. “I tried tracing the point of origin where the photo was taken but all I can tell is that they’re near water, which would explain why the tracking Runes weren’t working.”

Jace narrows his eyes as he takes in the details of the photo, it takes him a moment to realize that he’s been there before.

“I know where they are,” he murmurs, his hands curling into fists as he finally tears his eyes from the screen. “I’ve been there.”

“What are you talking about? Where are they?” Isabelle asks, placing the tablet back down and turning her full attention on him, her arms crossed over her chest in a stance that is all too familiar to Jace. “Also, what do you mean you’ve been there?"

Jace lets out a sigh as he runs a hand through his still damp hair.

“It’s a ship that’s been docked along the Hudson River.”

“Okay… but that still doesn’t answer my question; what do you mean you’ve been there?” Isabelle repeats, her tone growing frustrated.

“When Valentine took Clary’s Mom… Clary left me clues as to how I could find her. At first, when I got to the Hudson, I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary until I activated the Clairvoyance Rune and when I did, the ship revealed itself like an unwrapped present at Christmas.” Jace explains. “If that’s where he’s holding Alec and Magnus, then we have no chance of sneaking onboard; he has trained guards and Forsaken everywhere.”

“We can handle a few guards and Forsaken,” Isabelle huffs, turning to pick up the tablet again.

“No, we can’t.” Jace continues, his heart rate rising as he moves closer to her. “Izzy, we’re not talking about just one or two of each here, this is Valentine. He has guards and Forsaken placed _everywhere_. The only way that we’re even going to get close enough to save Alec and Magnus is if I go onboard, alone. You said that he said the message demanding that I go to him, well… let’s give him what he wants.”

“Are you insane? You’re not going onboard alone, Jace!”

“If you want to get Alec and Magnus back, then yes, I am.”

Isabelle pauses her frantic typing and looks down, her shoulders slumping in defeat as she takes in Jace’s words.

She knows that he’s right, she knows that the best chance they have of saving her brother and Magnus is if Jace follows Valentine’s demands but there’s no guarantees that Valentine will let them go. Everyone knows that Valentine’s not exactly the most trustworthy of people, and after what their parents did during the Uprising… Isabelle didn’t want to think about what Valentine would do, or what he has already done, to her brother.

“Izzy, I know you’re worried but we have no choice.” Jace says softly as he places a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Isabelle turns her head in order to look up at him and lets out a long sigh.

“Yeah, I know,” she murmurs, placing her own hand over Jace’s and giving it a little squeeze. “I just don’t want to risk you being held hostage by Valentine too. We already know he has an ulterior motive, one that includes you, but who’s to say once you’re there, he’ll let Alec and Magnus go?”

“I’ll make sure that he lets them go; they’re of no use to him,” Jace promises and he drops his hand back to his side.

Izzy wanted to stop Jace from starting to gather up his weapons, but she knows that he is more than capable of handling himself out in the field, she even helped him train, so she knows how far he can push himself but she knows that she’s right too; they have no idea what Valentine’s plans are, and they don’t know why he has taken Alec and Magnus. That makes him dangerous and Jace doesn’t react well to danger. It draws him in like a moth to a flame and all Isabelle can do as she watches him walk out of the Institute, is to hope that they all make it back home.

* * * * * *

Jace stops a few blocks away from the docks to suck in a deep breath while his fingers flex impatiently around the hilt of his Seraph Blade.

The ship, Jace notes, doesn’t appear to have changed since the last time he was on board. From where he’s currently standing, he can just make out the shadows of the Forsaken that have been informed to stand guard. In the dim light of the moon, Jace can see the faint glint of weapons that are being held in their hands and he takes a moment to think. If he was to casually stroll onboard, there was no doubt in his mind that he would be immediately jumped, however there was a strong possibility that the Forsaken and the Circle members would have been informed to keep an eye out for him. After all, Valentine ordered the message to be sent so that he would show up, but he’s still not sure how they would react.

Deciding that it was best to just make peace, Jace takes his hand off the hilt of his Seraph Blade and walks forward with his hands held up in front of him. He didn’t want to give the Forsaken any reason to attack, and at least this way he can gain some form of peaceful entry. He was spotted as soon as he stepped out from the shadows and under one of the nearest streetlights, and the roar from the Forsaken was enough to make him flinch.

“Jonathan Morgenstern, stay right where you are!” One of the Circle members yells, his own Blade glowing in his grasp.

“It’s Wayland,” Jace mutters under his breath but he does as he’s instructed.

As much as he doesn’t want to obey an order from a Circle member, Jace tells himself that he’s doing this for Alec and Magnus. If he shows Valentine and his men that he’s willing to cooperate, then maybe Valentine will listen to reason and will let them go.

 _Yeah, and maybe Valentine will start handing out cookies_ , his inner voice scoffs and he shudders at the image.

Taking in a deep breath, Jace tries his best to look as non-threatening as possible, a feat that Isabelle would declare to be impossible. “ _You always have this look in your eye that seems to say ‘if you so much as open your mouth and start to annoy me, I’m going to end you’, it’s not exactly a look that people find approachable_.” And, for once, Jace has to agree with her but as he always tells her, " _I can’t change my face, Iz_."

Still, Valentine’s men don’t seem to have a problem with approaching him.

As soon as they reach him, the two guards on the left move forward and take hold of his arms, pinning them behind his back, causing him to let out a sharp hiss at the movement. The other two guards give him a pat down, their hands roaming his body for any signs of weapons. Naturally they take away his Seraph Blade and he curses himself for not concealing the extra knives he has hidden on the inside of his jacket.

Once they’re satisfied that Jace does not have any more weapons on him, the guards that were currently holding onto his arms, shove him forward which causes him to stumble on his feet. Looking over his shoulder, Jace throws a glare in their direction as a growl bubbles up in his throat. As they move towards the lowered ramp of the ship, Jace sucks in a calming breath. He takes a second to remind himself that he can’t afford to lose his temper, not this early on in his plan, at least. He needs to remain focused and level-headed if he has any hope of saving Alec and Magnus.

For the briefest of moments, Jace regrets telling Isabelle to stay at the Institute. If he had allowed her to come with him, then she would have been able to blend into the shadows of the surrounding buildings until the coast was clear of guards and Forsaken, and then all she would have to do was to find a way onto the ship which didn’t involve being manhandled such as Jace was currently. Then again, as skilled as Isabelle is, in both the training room and in the field, there’s no guarantee she would remain undetected, especially in the heeled boots she tends to favor wearing for missions.

" _If I’m going to kill some Demons, then I’m going to do it in style_ ," Isabelle says, a huge smile on her face.

In all honesty, Jace is amazed that she hasn’t done any damage to herself whilst wearing those things.

But as the guards lead him closer and closer to the top deck of the ship, Jace holds the image of Isabelle’s smile clear in his head. He’s not one hundred percent sure what he’s about to walk into and if there happens to be a fight against however many of the Forsaken Valentine has made part of his following, then having Isabelle’s smiling face in his mind isn’t the worst thing in the world to help him through.

He lets out the breath he was holding as they finally reach the top deck and he barely has time to steady himself before the guard to his left, shoves him forward over the threshold. Jace stumbles forward before the guard grabs hold of his shirt collar, his hand pressing painfully into the space between his shoulder blades and Jace makes a move to turn round, his arms going to shove the guard back before the one of his right grabs them.

“Will you jerks quit manhandling me!” Jace snaps as he struggles to break free of their grips.

“That will be quite enough, gentlemen,” Valentine’s voice calls out from the helm of the ship.

The guards immediately release their hold on Jace and take a step back, their arms going behind their backs as they do so; it’s a pose that Jace is all too familiar with, he’s seen Alec stand in that same exact position way too many times to count.

Jace sends a glare in their direction before he turns his attention to the helm.

“Jonathan, it’s so nice of you to finally make an appearance,” Valentine greets, his arms open wide.

Jace shudders involuntarily at the sound of his full name being spoken, and it takes all of his willpower not to correct the man. Instead, he decides to get straight to the point and asks through gritted teeth, “Where is Alec and Magnus? What have you done to them?”

“ _I_ haven’t done anything to them,” Valentine answers, raising hand and motioning for his men to leave.

“Where are they?” Jace repeats, his tone low and cold as he watches the man, a deep hatred in his eyes.

The sound of heavy chains rattling behind him, causes Jace to spin on his heels. His eyes darting from left to right as he tries to find the source. He didn’t have to wait long for the source to be known as a long second later, Alec and Magnus are being pulled roughly into view and forced to their knees by the two men Valentine had just ushered away and Jace lets out a gasp at the sight of his _Parabatai_ and Warlock. Out of the two, Alec is definitely looking worse for wear, one of his eyes swollen shut, and dried blood crusting the side of his face. From where Jace was standing, he could just make out the ragged breaths coming out of Alec’s mouth and through the gag-like muzzle, he could feel the throbbing of their _Parabatai_ Rune and he knew that Alec was struggling to breathe through the pain and the gag. But it isn’t the sight of the muzzles that makes Jace feel nauseous, it’s seeing the sight of the collar around Magnus’s neck in person that makes Jace’s stomach twist.

“Let them go,” Jace demands, the words coming out as a growl.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Jonathan.” Valentine smirks as he takes a step round the helm and starts to make a move towards the slightly worn steps. “You see, much like yourself, they’re both here for a reason. As you already know, my goal is to cleanse the world of the abominations that are Downworlders, making the world safer for Nephilim and Mundanes alike. However, I can’t complete my goal without you by my side.”

“Then you’re wasting your time even talking because I’m not going to join you,” Jace snaps, his hands clenching into tight fists.

“I thought you might say something like that, which is why I had my men grab your _Parabatai_. It amazes me how similar we are…”

“I’m _nothing_ like you!” Jace interrupts, his eyes burning with rage as he fights to stay in control.

“Oh, but you are, Jonathan.” Valentine chuckles as he descends the steps. “We both chose to become _Parabatai_ ’s to those we thought were on our side. Mine ended up becoming part of the evil we were fighting to rid the world of, and yours… well, yours chose to fall in love with a Warlock.”

Jace glances over his shoulder at Alec, who has his head bowed down low. He notes that the guards are still holding onto Alec and Magnus, keeping them on their knees before Valentine, and Jace sends a silent prayer up to the Angels to make sure they make it out of this alive. Jace isn’t even sure if Alec is still conscious but as he strains his ears, he breathes a small sigh of relief when he hears the shuddering breaths his _Parabatai_ is taking.

“Don’t you see, Jonathan? It’s the bond we share with our _Parabatai_ ’s that is holding us back from completing our mission. I was fortunate enough to cut ties with mine, though the beast still walks freely amongst the Downworld, but you… you’re still bound to yours and it’s his feelings towards the Downworlders that is holding you back from thinking clearly! So, you have a choice, Jonathan… in order to help me reach my goal of creating a better world, you get to pick who dies,” Valentine smirks, motioning over to where his men were standing over Alec and Magnus, both of them unable to break free of their chains. “Who will it be? Are you going to save the other half of your soul, or are you going to side with Downworld filth?”

Jace can feel his body start to shake; whether it was through fear or anger, he doesn’t know but he needs to do something otherwise he doesn’t want to think about what will happen to Alec and Magnus. What he knows for sure is that he can’t let either of them die.

Looking around, Jace tries to find a way that he can get them all of out of this, but as his eyes meet the shadows of several Forsaken and another twenty to thirty of Valentine’s men, the outlook is not looking good. He once again wishes that he had allowed Isabelle to come with him to the ship and to have also accepted her offer of bringing back up Shadowhunters. If he manages to get through this, he will never say no to her again.

“Who will it be, Jonathan?” Valentine repeats as he starts to walk in a circle around Jace, the movement reminding him of one of the many documentaries Clary and Simon had forced him into watching, where a hungry predator is getting itself ready to make a kill.

Jace shudders at the resemblance and looks away from where Alec and Magnus were kneeling. He knows deep in his soul that Valentine is going to want an actual answer from him, but there’s no way that he can provide one, at least one that he’s willing to provide. If he chooses Alec to die then a part of his own soul will die along with him, but if he chooses Magnus to die, then not only will they be losing a valuable ally, but Alec would no longer speak to him and to Jace, that was worse than just having their _Parabatai_ bond severed in half.

“If you don’t make a decision within the next two minutes, then I’m afraid I’m going to have to make the decision for you,” Valentine sneers as he pulls out his Seraph Blade, his fingers tightening around the hilt as he continues his circling, the action making Jace feel more than a little dizzy.

“Wait, just… wait.” Jace sputters out, raising his hands in front of him as he looks round and then down towards his belt.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Valentine lower his blade a fraction and that’s pause enough for Jace to think of his next step.

“I’m not armed, your guards took everything off me before they grabbed me,” Jace states as he looks back up at the man.

Valentine pauses his circling for the briefest of seconds before nodding.

“You’re right, of course. Give my son his blades.”

The guard that was situated the furthest away from Jace looked towards Valentine like he was insane but after a second’s hesitation, like the good little soldier, he gave a small nod and made his way slowly towards Jace, his Seraph Blades in hand. As he approaches, Jace makes a note of the tension that the guard was carrying in his shoulders, and how each step he was taking was cautious, calculated, as if he didn’t trust Jace.

 _And for good reason_ , Jace thinks as he accepts the blades from the guard.

Jace watches the guard step away from him before returning to his previous post and it takes everything he has not to strike. He takes in a deep breath as he steadies himself. If his plan was going to work, then he needs to wait until the most opportune moment, but it would also mean that he would have to make Alec believe that Jace is really going to kill either him or Magnus to show his loyalty to Valentine.

He feels sick at the thought but he turns to face Magnus and his _Parabatai_ , nonetheless.

At the sound of his approaching boots, Alec wearily lifts his head, his one decent hazel eye widening as he starts to shake his head, muffled cries urging Jace to stop but he can’t. This is the only way to get them off of this damn ship. With every step, Jace can hear Alec trying to scream his protests, but his words are weak and muffled against the gag. Jace’s heart wrenches in his chest as he realizes that all his _Parabatai_ can do is struggle against the guard holding onto him, and watch with horror in his eyes as Jace kneels down in front of Magnus, his Seraph Blade in hand.

Jace risks a glance in Alec’s direction and after checking that the guards in front of him weren’t watching him, he catches his _Parabatai_ ’s eye and winks. Alec’s muffled scream turns into shuddering sobs and Jace is glad that Alec has an idea about what Jace is thinking of doing and is keeping up the charade for Valentine’s benefit. If the older man gets wind of Jace’s plan, then they’ll all be saying goodbye.

“Who are you going to choose, Jonathan?” Valentine calls over to Jace, his voice full of amusement.

Jace sucks in a deep breath, his Seraph Blade rising higher above him and once he was happy with its position, he lets out a growl as he spins on his heels and drives the Blade sharply through the chest of the guard holding onto Magnus before spinning the other way and drives the Seraph Blade into the chest of the guard holding onto his _Parabatai_. Jace was quick to catch Alec before he fell flat on his already bruised and swollen face, but he didn’t have time to make sure that he was okay because the moment he helped Alec sit back, a hoard of Forsaken were heading his way.

Behind him, Jace hears Valentine barking orders to his men, but Jace was ready for them.

He swipes another Seraph Blade up from one of the fallen guards and swivels on his heels in time to slash the neck of an over sized Forsaken, the blood spurting in Jace’s direction and coating the pearlescent glow of the Blade with a dark, almost black, fluid. Jace grimaces as he stares down at the blood but he doesn’t hesitate in giving the next Forsaken the same fate as the first. As he moves with the grace of a living Angel, he feels his own blood singing through his veins, urging him onward and giving him the confidence boost he needs to get out of this, alive.

Valentine makes his move as Jace ducks out of reach of one of the guards, and strides over to where Alec and Magnus are. He reaches out a hand and grabs a fistful of Alec’s hair before yanking his head back and exposing his pale throat. Alec lets out a muffled yell and tries to get into a position that will alleviate some of the pain from his neck but with the chains holding him and his body too tired to move, he clenches his one good eye shut.

“ENOUGH!” Valentine bellows, his voice booming louder than the cries of the Forsaken.

Jace freezes when he catches sight of the glow of Valentine’s Blade against Alec’s neck, his heart jumping into his throat, cutting off his air supply when he spots the small trail of blood that’s currently running down his _Parabatai_ ’s skin and watches in horror as it disappears underneath the sweat-soaked collar of his shirt. His moment of pause was enough time for Valentine’s men to overpower him, the larger of the two taking hold of his arms while the other pries the weapons from his grasp before pressing them against Jace’s own skin.

He sucks in a breath and tries not to struggle against the guards hold as Valentine shoves Alec to the side.

Alec lets out a pained groan as he lands on his side, and Jace can see that he’s struggling to breathe.

The guards holding Jace loosen their hold as Valentine approaches and with a nod from him, they move towards Alec and Magnus, both of them reaching down and pulling them roughly up onto their knees, their Blades poised under their chins. Jace glances over at Magnus and curses under his breath as the Warlock remains unmoving, his body limp in the hold of the guard behind him.

“I wouldn’t worry about that disgusting Warlock, he’s still alive… for the moment,” Valentine hisses as he stops in front of Jace.

“It’s me that you’re after, so just let them go and I’ll do whatever you want,” Jace snaps, his anger showing clear as day in his expression.

“Oh, Jonathan, if only I could believe that… you couldn’t even make a simple choice,” Valentine laughs, the sound hard and cruel. “I thought that I had raised you better than this, I thought that after all those years of training, you would have been able to follow a simple command. I guess that I was wrong on that account, and I suppose I should be thanking the Lightwood traitors for undoing all of those lessons. I would have accepted the death of either your _Parabatai_ or the Warlock, but no, you had to try and play the hero, didn’t you?”

“You think you deserve any credit in the way I was raised? You had nothing to do with my upbringing, and if anyone’s the traitor here, it’s you! Out of everyone in the Clave, it was you who tried to play the hero, you and your deluded fantasies about a pure and perfect world… that’s what made the Lightwood's turn their backs on you and you know what? That just shows me how much better they are than you!” Jace replies, his voice low and steady as he leans forward, his eyes narrow as he glares at the man who pretended to be his Father for so many years. “Even your own wife saw that what you were doing was wrong, that your ideals went against everything that the Shadowhunters stand for and she did the right thing by running away with the cup, and with Clary; she deserves a better Father than you, and she found that in the form of Luke.”

“ _Lucian_ is **not** her Father!” Valentine snaps as he raises his hand to strike Jace.

The blow causes Jace to wobble a little to the side, but he doesn’t allow himself to fall, he knows that what he’s just said to Valentine is the truth and judging by his reaction, Valentine knows it too. If only Jace can keep him talking long enough for him to try a different plan of attack, then maybe…

He doesn’t get a chance to finish his thought as a siren starts to sound.

“Sir, it’s the perimeter alarms; the wards have been breached!” A guard calls from the top of the steps leading to the helm. “The radar has detected Nephilim activity on the South side and it looks as though a large number from the Institute are on their way.”

Jace lets out a breath upon hearing this news.

He doesn’t know how Isabelle had managed to trace him, but he knew it was only a matter of time before they were free from this nightmare.

Valentine, on the other hand, lets out a low growl at this news and turns his attention back to Jace, his hands reaching out and grabbing hold of the front of his t-shirt until his knuckles turn white. He pulls Jace up towards his face and when they were just inches apart, Jace made the choice of headbutting Valentine right on the nose, the feeling of satisfaction seeping into his bones as he hears the all important _crack_ of bones breaking and the painful howl escaping through Valentine’s open lips, but even through the pain and surprise, Valentine doesn’t release his grip on Jace.

Before Jace has a chance to struggle his way out of Valentine’s hold, he’s shoved down onto his knees, both of his arms being twisted and held behind his back at an angle that makes him want to cry out but he doesn’t. He knows better than to show any weakness in front of Valentine. Instead, he watches through a teary haze as two more of Valentine’s men make their way up onto the top deck and over to where he was forced to his knees.

“Sir, what would you like us to do? The Forsaken can only hold them off for so long,” the older of the two asks, his tone full of authority and from the way that he was standing, Jace can only assume that he’s had some form of military training.

“Load them into the vans; we’ll move onto the second location,” Valentine instructs, shoving Jace face first into the guards, as he heads towards the side of the ship they had entered on, a bloody handkerchief pressed against his nose as he tries his best to stem the blood flow and adds over his shoulder, “Make sure that you secure them all into separate vans; I don’t want to give them a chance to plan an escape.”

The guard nods and orders his colleagues to fetch the spare set of chains from inside the ship’s cabins.

“Where are you taking us?” Jace calls out to Valentine’s back as he struggles against the guards hold.

Valentine pauses at the top of the ship’s steps, and turns to look at him as he says, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, I'm already so behind with these prompts but that's okay as I'm loving the direction that they're all heading in and I can assure you that not all of them will be so full of violence (there will be some comfort coming up... eventually...) but for now, enjoy! - _SoWrongItsLottie_


	4. Running Out Of Time (Part Four)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: _**Caged / Buried Alive / Collapsed Building**_

“Come on, come on… where are you?” Isabelle murmurs under her breath as she frantically taps at the tablet in her hands, her eyes narrowed as she glares at the screen in front of her, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of Alec, Magnus or Jace in the footage that was currently being scanned from multiple speeding cameras that were lining the Hudson River, but so far she was having no luck in locating them.

She knew from the very second Jace walked out of the Institute that she should have insisted on going with him. Isabelle knew that Jace was feeling guilty about Alec’s disappearance, just like she didn’t miss the way he flinched when she told him that she couldn’t get hold of Magnus and she definitely didn’t miss the way Jace’s shoulders tensed before slumping when she showed him the photograph that Valentine had sent to her of Alec and Magnus, both of them bound and beaten. The sight of the photo made her stomach twist, she didn’t want to believe that her big brother and friend had been taken, let alone the idea they’ve been enduring numerous beatings and torture that she thought better suited one of Simon’s stupid horror movies but she couldn’t deny what was right in front of her very eyes.

It was time to take charge and put Plan B in effect.

“Alright, listen up,” Isabelle calls out to the group of Shadowhunters that were gathered within the main area of the Institute. “As you are no doubt aware, two days ago my brother – your Head of the Institute - Alec Lightwood, disappeared shortly after leaving the High Warlock of Brooklyn’s apartment. Up until an hour ago, we had no idea why he disappeared or who had taken him. Now, we know…” Isabelle pauses for a second as she brings up the photograph that was sent to her from Alec’s phone. “I was sent this photo within the last hour and as much as it pains me to say this… I believe that both Alec and Magnus Bane were grabbed by Valentine’s men and taken to a ship that he has been anchored along the Hudson River.”

“Wait… he went back to the ship?” Clary speaks up from the front row, her arms crossed over her chest as she looks round the room.

Isabelle glances down at Clary as she tries to figure out which ‘ _he_ ’ she was referring before settling on the obvious; _Jace_ – of course, she would be asking after Jace, despite finding out that he’s her Father, Clary has made it abundantly clear that she doesn’t want anything to do with Valentine.

 _Not that I can blame her_ , Isabelle thinks as she returns her attention back to the gathered Shadowhunters.

“Yes, it’s true that Jace Herondale has gone to find the exact location of the ship but I fear that he too has been captured. Too much time has passed since he left the Institute and I couldn’t find sight of him in any of the cameras along the river, so until he we hear word from him, we must assume that Valentine and his men have Jace, Alec and Magnus.” Isabelle explains, looking round at each of the faces standing before her.

“Then what are we standing around here for? We have to save them!” Clary says, unfolding her arms as she takes a step forward.

“And where do you suppose we start, huh?” Isabelle asks, crossing her own arms which pins the tablet close against her chest. “We don’t even know where the ship is docked; Jace didn’t exactly get a chance to pass on that bit of information before he disappeared, we can’t track him because none of the Tracking Runes work when a Shadowhunter is being held somewhere across water, and the only Warlock that we have on retainer who we can truly trust to help has been taken alongside the Head of this Institute. So, what are you suggesting we do, Clary?”

Behind her, a few of the Shadowhunters start to murmur under their breaths.

This isn’t the first time that Clary has spoken out in a meeting and Isabelle is pretty sure that it won’t be the last either.

Isabelle may not have known the red-head for very long, or as much as she would like to, but she can’t help but admire her loyalty and the sheer fierceness of her decisions. Isabelle knows that when Clary puts her mind to something, she will stop at nothing in order to achieve her goal. The outcome of her decisions may not always turn out the way she hopes but she puts her heart and soul into each one and that’s more than anyone can ask of her; she’s still new to the Shadow World, after all. Isabelle can relate to Clary’s tenacity and determination to prove herself capable to those around her, and she supposes that it’s part of the reason why she connected with Clary so much when she entered their lives, and why she jumped to her defence when Alec took it upon himself to continuously scold and scowl at her.

As she stands on top of the steps, where Alec usually stands, Isabelle lets out a sigh.

“I understand that the tension within the Institute is a little high right now, we are without our Head of the Institute, and we’re now under the impression that one of our best Warriors has been taken as well, but we need to remain calm and focused on finding them and bringing them back home. All the information we have so far points towards Valentine and his men, if this turns out to be true then we need to be ready to face him and a possible army of Forsaken. With my brother missing, it’s my duty as acting Head of the Institute to support and lead you, which is why I need you to break off into teams of eight; we’re going to follow Jace’s route along the Hudson and locate the ship. Under no circumstance is anyone to board the ship until I give you the all clear, do you understand?” Isabelle explains, looking round at them all.

The gathered Shadowhunters take in her words before nodding, a few of which seemed reluctant.

If Valentine really is concerned then Isabelle understands their reluctance to get involved but Clary’s right, there’s no time for hesitancy.

“Alright, get yourselves ready; we leave in ten minutes.” Isabelle instructs and turns towards the living quarters.

Now that she was away from the main floor, safe in her bedroom, hidden from the gazes of her subordinates, Isabelle allows herself a moment to break down. She couldn’t get over the fact that Alec had been taken and tortured; the photograph that had been sent of Alec and Magnus was at the forefront of her mind and her heart was breaking for them. Her big brother didn’t deserve any of this to happen.

In Isabelle’s mind, Alec was the best big brother she could have asked for.

When she was younger, and had been dealing with the horrors that she had seen through their parent’s work, he was always the one who had heard her cries and had gotten up in the middle of the night to make sure that she was okay. He would insist on staying with her long after she fell asleep to make sure that the nightmares stayed away. When she got asked out on her very first date, Alec was the one who had a word with her date and gave his approval, telling them to have a good time and to not be late back. He was the one who covered for her when she returned home late, despite him telling them not to be late, and he was also the one who had made countless mugs of Hot Cocoa and supplied an unlimited amount of chips as he helped her study the more complex Runes so that she was ready for her final exam with the Academy.

That’s the kind of brother Alec is; supportive, protective, loving… and just the mere knowledge that Valentine has hurt Alec, makes her blood boil. But there was no time for Isabelle to break down. The photograph she received confirmed what she already believed to be true; Alec is still alive, and every second Izzy wastes standing in her room crying at the torture her brother has endured, is another second Alec is being held and beaten in a never-ending nightmare by a man as sick and twisted as the Devil and it’s about time Isabelle took responsibility and saves Alec for once.

Taking a deep breath, Isabelle swipes furiously at the tears that were forming in her eyes before pulling herself and her emotions together.

She needs to find her brother, and she’s not going to stop until he’s home.

* * * * * *

The second location turns out to be an abandoned building on Roosevelt Island.

It doesn’t look like somewhere Jace would have chosen to hide from an Institute full of Shadowhunters that were hot on his trail but then again, it wasn’t as if Valentine had much sense or taste when it came to real estate. From what little Jace could make out from his position in the rust-bucket of a van Valentine’s men had bundled him into, it looks as though it could have been used as an old hospital back in the day, and as the driver of the van pulls up in front of the now decrepit building, Jace could make out the faded letters above the entrance which declared it to be called _Renwick’s_.

Jace scrunches up his nose as he tries to think why the name sounds so familiar.

He’s almost certain that he’s heard it before, but he can’t for the life of him remember where.

The sound of the back doors opening jarred Jace out of his thoughts.

As the dimming light of the afternoon sun shines into the back of the van, Jace raises a hand up to shield his eyes as he squints past one of Valentine’s men, watching intently as a second van pulls up behind theirs. It takes a moment for the driver of the van to get out, but when he does, he heads straight for the front entrance of the hospital, roughly pulling open the double doors while two other men struggle to drag Alec between them.

Jace makes a move to jump out of the van, but an arm is thrust in front of his chest, pinning him in place.

“I don’t think so, Pretty Boy,” the man beside him grunts.

Jace glowers at the man as he bites back a sarcastic comment; he can’t afford to be a smart ass right now.

The two men who dragged Alec into the building return a moment later and make their way over to the third van. Jace can only assume that the van was holding Magnus. His assumptions are proven to be correct when he sees one of the men tugging on a long chain, the ends of which had been clipped to the loop of the collar that was still adorning Magnus’s delicate neck. Jace feels sick watching them pull Magnus behind them like some kind of animal, and despite being ordered by the man to stay where he was, Jace couldn’t just sit and do nothing to help his friend and _Parabatai_.

Closing his eyes, Jace takes in a deep breath, steadying himself before opening his eyes and looking over towards the man beside him.

 _One_ …

Jace watches as the man starts to rise up out of his seat, his head and broad shoulders hunched in order to prevent them from scraping the top of the van as he moves a couple of steps towards the open doors, his large frame blocking out the majority of the light.

The man looks over his shoulder at Jace and lets out a warning growl, but Jace just glares back, unmoving.

 _Two_ …

Jace strains his ears as he listens to the man speaking with another one of the guards, he was trying to pick out the words that would give him some indication about where the other two men have taken Magnus and his _Parabatai_ but for big men, their voices were so soft that it was hard to make out any words at all – they might as well have been communicating telepathically with each other.

Jace tears his gaze away from the men as he looks down at his leg which was minutely bouncing up and down; a nervous habit.

As he shifts a little in his seat, he can feel the pull of his shoulders as he clenches his bound hands into fists.

Jace wasn’t planning on letting Valentine’s men take him willingly but he needed to be smart about how he was going to save Alec and Magnus.

As Valentine pushed him into the waiting arms of his men, Jace decided to put on an act just for Valentine, he struggled in their grasps, making a feeble – yet still realistic – attempt to break free before instructing his body to go lax in their grip. He let out a low growl when the men pulled his arms painfully behind his back and bound his wrists with thick shackles, the jangling of chains reaching his ears as they pulled him to his feet and back down to the street where three old vans sat idling, their back doors flung wide open, waiting.

Jace focuses back onto the man in front of him as he finishes the conversation with the other guard.

 _It’s now or never_ , Jace thinks as he sucks in another breath.

The other guard turns to leave and Jace grins.

_Three!_

Before the man can fully turn round, Jace makes a move to lunge out of his seat.

His plan was simple; lunge forward, tackle the man out the back of the van, kick any other guard who stood in his way, find Alec and Magnus, somehow free them while his own hands are still bound and then make a run for it. It was simple enough, there were only six stages to his plan, a plan that he has successfully executed more often than he would care to admit. However… he hadn’t counted on being held back by the chains that had been clipped onto the ring of the shackles binding his wrists. As soon as he made a move forward, his shoulders where pulled sharply back.

“Son of a…” Jace starts to hiss as he falls back into the seat.

The man turns to look at Jace and lets out a low chuckle.

“You didn’t think that we would be stupid enough not to make sure that you were properly secured before getting in the van now, did you?”

Jace wanted so badly to answer the man’s question with a sarcastic reply but the pain in his shoulders had put a strain on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe comfortably. All he could manage was a breathless, “ _Fuck you_ ,” before attempting to tug the chains behind him free, breathing through the pain as he pulled. It was no use though, the man was, as Jace hated to admit, correct; the guards had made sure that he was secured. They more than likely thought it would be wise after witnessing him headbutting Valentine on the ship, a ballsy move if he did say so himself.

With a sickening smirk on his face, the man slowly approaches Jace.

From where Jace sits, hunched over in his seat, he manages to muster up just enough attitude to glower at the man.

He’s soon rewarded by the man reaching out with both hands, one of which roughly grabs hold of the back of Jace’s neck and squeezes just a little too tightly as he pulls him forward so that he can use his other hand to release the shackles from the chains hold.

“Move it,” the man orders as he applies more pressure on Jace’s neck.

“ _Bite me_ ,” Jace growls through gritted teeth as he tries to shrug the man off.

Jace’s feeble attempt to disengage the man’s hand just makes the man chuckle as he proceeds to shove Jace forward, hard enough for the Shadowhunter’s feet to stumble near and over the edge of the van. Jace lets out a muffle curse under his breath and before he even has the chance to cry out in surprise, he feels himself falling – everything slows and passes by in a flash at the same time - before he feels his head colliding with the dusty, hard ground beneath him. He lets out a loud groan as stars begin to swim across his vision. Jace takes a second to catch his breath and does his best to hold back the string of curses he wants so desperately to throw in the man’s direction as he continues to chuckle.

“You really think you’re going to be able to get out of this?” The man asks, his tone taunting as he jumps out of the van.

Without warning, the man delivers a swift kick to Jace’s chest, causing the young Shadowhunter to cough, blood staining his lips as he attempts to curl his legs up to protect his chest. The man has other ideas though and he reaches out and grabs hold of one of Jace’s legs, a sick smirk appearing on his lips as he starts to twist it into a completely unnatural angle. Jace tries to shimmy his body out of the man’s reach but it’s useless, and as soon as he feels the muscles around the bones in his leg start to strain, he could no longer hold back the pain-filled scream that had been building up inside of him since he had been shoved into the guard’s waiting clutches on the ship.

“Why Valentine insisted we bring you instead of just ending you, I’ll never know,” the man continues with resentment lacing his words.

Jace tries to muster up the strength to say something in return, but he doesn’t get the chance too.

As he pants through his tears, his chest rising and falling in rapid succession, the man grabs hold of the back of Jace’s neck once more and starts to drag him towards the hospital’s entrance and in through the old double doors. With every step the man dragged him, Jace tried to get up onto his feet, just so that the chipped ground was no longer grazing the exposed skin of his knees but the man holding onto him was having none of it. He squeezed Jace’s neck tighter, cutting off his air supply as he makes a series of turns.

From what Jace could make out, the corridors were laid out like a maze, when he thought he was starting to map out the layout in his head, the man would take another turn which threw off the design in Jace’s mind. After the sixth turn, Jace ditched the idea of trying to map out an escape route, it wasn’t seeming very likely that he was going to be leaving here any time soon… not if big and dumb here had anything to do with it.

After another turn and several flights of stairs later, the man eventually stops in front of a reinforced steel door.

“I’d take a good look around if I were you, Blondie; you’re not going to be seeing anything other than the inside of a cage for a long time.”

Jace takes a second to process his words.

_Cage? Why would there be a cage in a hospital?_

He doesn’t exactly get the chance to voice this question, as the man was opening the door to a dimly lit room.

The lack of lighting made it almost impossible to see more than a few feet in front of him, but Jace could see that it was a fairly large room, and from the look of the tiled floor, he could only assume that this room used to serve as the hospital’s canteen. Long gone were the food counter and accompanying tables, and in their place along the far wall were actual human-size cages, one of which contained…

“Alec!” Jace breathes out, his voice travelling across the room.

He makes a move to shrug the guard’s hand off his neck, but he’s rewarded with another vice-like squeeze.

As Jace struggles to suck in a deep breath, the guard drags him over to the cage beside Alec’s, unlocks the door, turns slightly towards Jace so that he can unlock the shackles binding Jace’s hands behind his back and then proceeds to throw Jace inside, not caring that the Shadowhunter’s head connects painfully with the bars at the back as he slumps to the ground, stars swimming across his vision once more.

“See you later, Pretty Boy,” the guard calls out over his shoulder as he closed the steel door behind him.

Jace barely has time to sit up before a new voice speaks out from the shadows to his right.

“So, what did you do to piss Valentine off this time? Those were his men I take it?”

The sound of Magnus’s voice was enough for Jace to turn his head, and blurry vision, to face the man that was slumped two cages away from him and honestly, the sight of Magnus conscious and breathing was enough for Jace to let out a series of relieved chuckles.

“I don’t see what you find so funny…” Magnus scolds as he shifts into a more comfortable position; his back pressed against the bars.

Jace too shifts his position and takes a second to assess Magnus; he looked like Hell. The once glamorous appearance of the Warlock was now completely lost to dried blood, dirt and an array of bruises. Jace could see the tension in Magnus’ shoulders as he used to bars behind him to keep him upright, and he didn’t miss the small wince as Magnus shifted his body. The movement made Jace wonder how much pleasure Valentine’s men felt in harming the Warlock - it’s not as if Valentine would have told them to take it easy. Knowing just how much Valentine detests everything about the Downworld and all of its inhabitants, he probably wouldn’t punish them if they had ended up not-so-accidentally killing him.

It’s with that thought that Jace’s stomach painfully clenches and he takes a second to suck in a breath.

“I’m just glad to see that your conscious again and as for pissing off Valentine… I think it was the swift forehead-to-nose combination which tipped him over the edge.” Jace grimaces, wrapping one of his arms round his torso as he tries to hide his own discomfort.

The silence of the room that follows, envelops them for a few minutes and the only sound that could be heard was their ragged breathing and the gentle _drip_ of a damaged pipe somewhere in the far corner. In a way, it was kind of soothing, but the longer Jace sat leaning back against the bars of the cage, the more he starts to feel every ache and pain in his body. He was pretty sure from his ragged breathing that at least one of his ribs was broken where the others were either cracked or fractured; it was hard to tell but he knows that they’ll eventually heal.

“That would do it and honestly, I would have preferred to remain unconscious,” Magnus admits, his voice soft.

In the dim light, Jace watches as he raises a hand to his throat, his trembling fingers hesitantly tracing the thick leather of the collar. Jace doesn’t know what’s going through Magnus’ mind right now, his eyes and mind were too busy look into the cage that separated them, the cage which held his _Parabatai_. Magnus may have regained consciousness, but looking over Alec, Jace could see that he had quickly fallen into unconsciousness.

“Alec? Alec… can you hear me?” Jace asks, choosing to pretend he didn’t hear Magnus’s previous comment.

His _Parabatai_ doesn’t stir and that causes Jace to panic.

“Alec?” Jace presses, his voice just that little bit louder.

“He’s still alive,” Magnus murmurs sadly as he turns his head in Jace’s direction, his piercing gold-green eyes shining through the darkness. “I don’t remember anything from when Alec left my apartment to waking up here but… whatever they’ve done to him… his body is trying to heal.”

“Can you help heal him?” Jace asks, his own voice turning soft as he tears his gaze away from Alec’s unconscious form.

The sight of his _Parabatai_ , beaten and unconscious, makes his chest tighten.

It’s not as if Jace has never seen Alec hurt before – he’s seen him injured too many times - but usually it’s after a long-winded mission with Demons that were just following out orders from dumb asses who didn’t know any better. This time though, he had been hurt by a man who was wanted by the Clave, a man who knew perfectly well what he was doing from the moment he ordered his men to grab Alec as he left Magnus’ apartment.

“I… I can’t,” Magnus whispers, his words bringing Jace back out of his thoughts.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Jace asks, disbelief flooding his expression.

“My magic… I don’t know what’s happened but I don’t… I can’t…”

Magnus trails off, shaking his head as he holds back the tears.

Jace watches as Magnus reaches out through the thick bars, in order to run a shaking hand gently through Alec’s sweaty hair. He could tell that the Warlock wanted nothing more than to hold his Shadowhunter boyfriend close and tell him that everything was going to be okay, but given their particular situation, Jace guessed that Magnus had accepted the fact that he had to make do and be grateful that they were at least in touching distance.

“Valentine most likely injected you with something to make your powers weak; Clary told me he did the same to Dot,” Jace explains.

Magnus doesn’t say anything in response, there wasn’t anything he _could_ say.

This isn’t the first time Magnus has crossed paths with Valentine and it most likely won’t be the last time either. He knows better than anyone just how cruel and vindictive Valentine Morgenstern can be, it’s why he took on the role as High Warlock of Brooklyn; he wanted to help protect Downworlders from his wrath once the Clave had banished him. Magnus didn’t believe that Valentine would never stay away from the Shadow World, just like he didn’t believe that the man would stop hunting down and killing every Downworlder he comes across. Magnus often still thinks of Ragnor Fell, and his blood starts to boil at the fact that Ragnor had survived through so many years, only to be struck down by Valentine’s men.

At the thought of his oldest friend’s murder, Magnus’s jaw clenches and he leans forward until his forehead is resting against the solid bars of the cage, his hand continuously running through Alec’s damp hair – the feeling of Alec’s hair his grasp is the only thing keeping him grounded.

Jace watches Magnus for a few more minutes before he lets out a low sigh.

_How did things get so screwed up?_

Shaking his head, Jace knows it’s probably best not to answer that question, instead he announces:

“I know that it probably doesn’t seem like it, but I actually went to the ship to rescue you.”

“I commend you on your unbelievable rescue skills,” Magnus laughs, licking his lips as he continues, “I mean, it’s every captive Warlock’s dream, hoping to be set free from a damp, disgusting Hell, only to find themselves thrown into a cramped cage in the middle of nowhere instead.”

Jace scoffs at this but he can’t help the smile that makes its way onto his lips.

It feels good knowing that Magnus still has his sarcastic sense of humour.

“I’ll remember that for next time,” Jace shrugs before wincing at the pain in his chest.

“Well, I hope for both our sakes there’s not going to be a next time.” Magnus says with a small smile on his face, which Jace can see that it’s a ghost of its true self. “I simply must ask out of genuine curiosity… where exactly has Valentine brought us?”

“Roosevelt Island and what seems to be an abandoned hospital called… uh… _Renwick’s_?” Jace answers casually, closing his eyes.

He scrunches up his nose again, still trying to remember where he has heard the name before, it just sounds so familiar to him and he’s pretty sure that he’s never been here before; the ship, yes, but an abandoned hospital… not so much. As he thinks back, a vague snippet of conversation fills his mind and he’s almost sure that he heard about this place from Clary… though, how she knew about it, he’ll never know.

“Blackwell’s Island… I should have known,” Magnus mutters under his breath., bringing Jace back to the present.

“What are you talking about? I said that we’re on Roosevelt Island,” Jace asks, his tired eyes opening once again.

“No, Blackwell’s is what Roosevelt Island used to be called back in the day. It was owned and run by an extremely old Shadowhunter family but since they owned the place, the Clave and the Mundanes have let it fall into total disrepair. It’s kind of sad, really.” Magnus explains.

The Warlock’s tone is sad as his mind recalls a time which Jace would never be able to comprehend.

“So… you know the island well then?” Jace asks, his shoulders shifting against the bars.

The pain in Jace’s ribs was increasing, and he knows that if he doesn’t start moving around soon then he’s going to seize up. The only issue was that the cage he had been thrown into, was barely wide enough to stretch out his legs, let alone allowing him space to walk off a cramp.

“Not in the way you think,” Magnus responds as he finally pulls his hand away from Alec’s hair and slumps back against the bars of his own cage. “The last I heard about this place was that it was set to be demolished, the Mundanes even got as far as placing explosives within the building – they wanted to scrap the land and start building some new properties but the project was put on hold.”

“Explosives? Wait… when the project was put on hold, did they remove the explosives from the building?” Jace asks, not wanting to believe what he was hearing as he struggles to his feet, his right hand gripping onto the cage bars for support as he properly faces Magnus.

The Warlock looks up at Jace and shrugs.

How Magnus is so calm about them all being in close proximity to explosives, Jace doesn’t know but as he lets out a frustrated breath, he shakes his head and starts to pace in the available space of his allocated cage. If he keeps moving around then maybe he’ll be able to clear the fog that the pain in his ribs has started to settle on his mind, and form a plan that will get them all out of this, alive and in one piece.

“Jace, the project was put on hold,” Magnus repeats as he rests his head back against the bars. “And even if the explosives were still in the building, they would more than likely have been made dormant in case some irresponsible Mundane teenagers came across them.”

“You don’t know that; they could still be live!” Jace exclaims, his voice rising as he quickens his pacing.

“Jace…” Magnus starts to say but he trails off when he sees the look on Jace’s face.

“When were they supposed to demolish the place?” Jace asks, eyebrows furrowed.

“From what I heard, the original demolition date was set for some time next week, but Jace…” Magnus tries, but he’s cut off once more.

“Next week? Okay… okay… that’s good… that means we have some time…” Jace mutters, halting his pacing as he starts to look around, eyes wild.

As Magnus opens his mouth to respond, a low grumble can be heard from the other side of the steel door they were forced through earlier.

Magnus closes his mouth again as both he and Jace whip their heads round to face the closed door, both of their eyes growing wider as the grumble on the other side of the door steadily increases in volume. At first, Magnus assumes that the grumble was from the machines that were situation in the boiler room a few doors down the hallway, but as he listens closely, he makes out the sound of Valentine’s men calling for everyone to evacuate. On instinct, he opens his mouth again and starts to call out for someone, anyone, to come and release them from the cages so that they can be given a fighting chance at survival, but the moment the first cry was released, he suddenly began to realize that this was Valentine’s plan all along.

 _Of course, why on earth would a man like Valentine let us go when he can wipe out three threats at once?_ Magnus thinks as he closes his eyes and reaches a shaking hand out to the bars in front of him. _A disgusting Warlock and his Shadowhunter boyfriend who in Valentine’s eyes is a disgrace to Shadowhunters everywhere for choosing to be with the aforementioned disgusting Warlock, and the son he desperately wanted to join his side but has reluctantly come to realise that he never will because it goes against everything the Lightwood’s have taught him_.

Through his closed eyelids, Magnus can make out the shadow of Jace’s towering form falling across his body which brings the Warlock out of his thoughts. He opens his eyes again and proceeds to watch as Alexander’s _Parabatai_ resumes his pacing.

The low grumble was now almost as loud as a playground full of children, and Magnus has a hunch that it’s only going to get louder. With this assumption in mind, Magnus shuffles closer to the bars of the cage. Taking in a deep breath, he looks over towards where Alec lay beaten and unconscious, the sight shot pain through his chest and as a tear falls from the corner of his eyes, the ground around them starts to shift.

At first, Magnus could only feel a one or two tremors but as the grumble increases in volume and intensity, so does the shifting of the earth beneath his fingertips. There was no other reason for this, than the fact that Valentine’s men had located the leftover explosives. As much as it pained Magnus to think, Valentine really did come up with the perfect plan. Who else could have come up with kidnapping the Head of the New York Institute and the High Warlock of Brooklyn? Who else would have been sick enough to sacrifice their own son who just happens to be the Institute’s most skilful warrior? Who else would have thought to use explosives as a way of disposing of them all? Magnus knows full well that a man like Valentine would never shy away from the sight of blood and destruction and Magnus can only hope that the bastard gets caught in the aftermath.

As Magnus savors the thought of Valentine receiving his comeuppance, he tries not to think about the current situation he’s found himself in. He tries to avoid thinking of how they were most likely about to get blown apart by flying debris from the rusted door, or their entire bodies being crushed by the already crumbling ceiling. In all the Centuries he has lived, he never thought that this would be the way his life would end; trapped in a cage with a thick collar around his neck and bruised to high heavens. At this thought, he lets out a shuddering breath and reaches a hand through the bars to his left in order to find Alec’s outstretched hand. When he manages to grasp Alec’s limp fingers, he squeezes with all the strength he has left.

 _If this is how it’s going to end, at least we’re going out together_ , Magnus thinks sadly.

Magnus always knew that he would spend the rest of his life with Alec, and as he closes his eyes, he can’t help but wish that they had a little bit more time together, so see each other get just that little bit older… wiser. It’s this thought that Magnus holds close as the steel doors burst inwards and a loud cacophony of noise enters the room, settling over them all until all they all fall into darkness.

* * * * * *

They were too late.

Isabelle knew from the moment the team located the ship, that they were too late.

Upon arriving, they were able to board the ship easily enough, they weren’t stopped by a hoard of Forsaken and as they made their way through the ship up to the top deck, they did not come across one single member of Valentine’s men. They came across nothing; the ship was deserted.

“Alright, Shadowhunters, spread out! I want every inch of this ship covered and if you find anything at all that shows that Alec, Magnus or Jace have been here, or a clue as to where they’ve been taken, come and find me right away, do you understand?” Isabelle calls out, whip at the ready.

There was a low rumble of affirmatives as the team headed in different directions.

Clary stayed with Isabelle, watching the Shadowhunters move around the ship.

“Do you really think they were here?” She asks, her voice small as she steps closer to Isabelle.

“Jace seemed to think so. It was him who recognized parts of the ship from the photo Valentine sent through of Alec and Magnus.” Isabelle replies, her voice strained as she struggles to keep her emotions in check.

 _Emotions cloud judgement, you cannot let them get in the way of a mission_ , her Mother’s voice rings in her ear.

Gripping the whip in her hand tighter, Isabelle cracks it against the deck of the ship, making Clary jump and take a few steps back.

Isabelle knows that her Mother is right, she can’t let her emotions get in the way of the mission but when it comes down to Alec, she has never been able to keep her emotions in check. Alec is her big brother and he has been there for her since she the day was born. He was always the one protecting her from things that went bump in the night, when she was scared, Alec would check to make sure that there were no monsters hiding under her bed – which when she looked back on when she was older, realizes was ridiculous as nothing scary would have been able to get through the Institutes wardings – he also took to reading her stories when she wasn’t feeling well and sneaking her candy when their parents weren’t looking.

He did everything in his power to make sure that she was safe, and now it’s her turn.

It’s Isabelle’s responsibility to make sure that her brother returns home, alive.

 _I’m not going to fail you, Alec_ , she thinks as she looks out across the water.

“We’re going to get them back,” Clary says quietly as she places a hesitant hand on Isabelle’s shoulder.

Sighing, Isabelle closes her eyes and turns to face the newest member of their group.

“I want to believe that, Clary, I really do but we have to think realistically here; Alec has already been missing for three days, we don’t know what kind of torture Valentine and his men have put him through, we don’t know what condition Magnus is in - given what we know about Valentine’s views on Downworlders, we don’t even know how much longer he has – and to top it all off, we don’t know where they’ve been taken from here. We’re literally stumbling around in the dark, and time is running out.”

“I get that, but Jace…” Clary starts but Isabelle cuts her off.

“Has most likely been taken by Valentine as well.” Isabelle says, her tone sharp as she returns her whip into its bracelet state and crosses her arms over her chest. “As much as I love Jace, he doesn’t always succeed in missions. The more you go out with him, the sooner you’ll realize that.”

“Izzy, that’s not…” Clary tries to protest but once again she’s cut off, this time by a different voice.

“Miss Lightwood!” A voice calls, and Isabelle turns to see that it belongs to Andrew Underhill. “We’ve found something in one of the offices.”

Confirming that the conversation with Clary was over, at least for now, Isabelle turns and follows Underhill through the ship door and down to the lower deck, the sound of her heels clicking on the wooden floor like an old man’s cane with every step she takes. As they pass room after room, the smell of damp and rotting wood hits her hard and she has to cover her mouth and nose in order to stop herself from gagging at the stench.

If Valentine had been holding Alec here, she could only imagine how he had managed to cope.

Shaking her head, Isabelle pushes the thought of Alec to the back of her mind.

She needs to stay focused.

“What did you find?” Isabelle asks as soon as they step into what she can only assume was Valentine’s office.

“When we conducted an initial sweep of the room, nothing jumped out as strange or out of the ordinary, but upon closer inspection of the desk drawers, we came across a bunch of different maps with handwritten scrawls around the edges.” Underhill explained, motioning to the top of the aging desk where a pile of discolored papers lay, their contents faded in the flickering light of the candles.

“It’s not unusual to find maps on a ship; Captain’s often save the Charters from each journey as a kind of souvenir and, if they were needed, for reference to future travels,” Isabelle responds as she walks over to the maps in question.

“That’s what I thought at first, but something didn’t look right, so I took a closer look. Now, these three maps here, that’s all fine, they just show some of the older routes the ship has taken. These two here are the ones that I’m not sure of. They don’t show an intended travel route, they don’t show anything to do with water either; these three maps simply show the layout of the abandoned Roosevelt Island. I thought it was a little strange, so I looked in another drawer and…” Underhill pauses as he reaches down to pull out a roll of thick paper and adds, “I found these.”

“What…?” Isabelle starts to say but she stops herself.

“It’s a blueprint of the old hospital on the Island,” Underhill explains as he straightens the roll of paper on top of the maps. “The blueprint itself is pretty useless, and it will be even more so next week once the place is demolished, but the question remains; what are the blueprints for an old, abandoned hospital doing on board a ship that has never traveled close to Roosevelt Island?”

“Did you just say that it was set to be demolished?” Isabelle asks, her tone quiet as she reviews the blueprint.

“Yes, it was planned for the end of next week but the project got put on hold, something about the Mundane Council disagreeing on whether it should be renovated and reopened or the land made clear for a new building.”

“When did the Mundanes clear the site?”

“It’s been clear of Mundane activity for the past three weeks… why?”

“Get everyone together now; we need to get to Roosevelt Island.” Isabelle instructs, straightening back up and moving towards the door. “Valentine wouldn’t have left these plans behind unless he has prior knowledge that we were on our way. He left them here so we would know where to find Alec, Magnus and Jace. The fact that explosives are involved has just made this rescue mission more urgent.”

“You think he’s going to use the explosives to…” Underhill starts but trails off as he follows at her heels.

“Yeah, he’s going to use them to cover his tracks and he’s going to blow my brother up in the process.”

Isabelle doesn’t look back to see if Underhill continues to follow her, she just pressed onward, needing fresh air now more than ever.

When she reaches the top deck, she shakes her head as Clary starts to advance towards her and heads for the side of the ship, her hands grasping tightly to the edge as she sucks in a deep breath. The smell of damp and rotting wood still lingers in her nostrils but it’s not the only cause for her sudden bout of nausea; Alec, Magnus and Jace were about to be the victims of an explosion, one that isn’t even planned to happen for another week. The thought of them trapped under rubble made her stomach twist and she closes her eyes, trying to block out the accompanying images.

 _Don’t you dare breakdown now, Alec needs you to be strong_ , Isabelle scolds at herself.

Taking in a deep breath, Isabelle draws herself up straight and turns to face the gathered Shadowhunters.

“As you can no doubt see, Valentine and his men have abandoned ship. Judging by the documents found in one of the rooms below deck, we believe that he may be hiding on Roosevelt Island, in the old _Renwick’s_ hospital.” Isabelle glances around at the Shadowhunters, taking in their vacant expressions as they listen to her. “Valentine is aware that we’re on his trail and will have taken extra measures to make sure that we don’t catch him, but we know where he’s hiding, we know what his motives are and we _will_ make sure that he pays for his crimes. Everyone head out.”

The gathered Shadowhunters nod and start filing off the ship.

“Clary, I need you to call Luke and ask him to get the Pack together; we’re going to need backup.” Isabelle instructs as she moves towards the exit.

“I’ll give him a call now and tell him to pick Simon up on the way; we could use his help too,” Clary nods, following close behind her.

The overall journey to Roosevelt Island was one Isabelle wishes never to repeat; with every second that passes, the more her anxiety grows along with the images of Alec and Magnus. She tries not to open the messages on her phone as she knows that the photo Valentine sent her will be the first thing she sees. She thinks about deleting it, but as her thumb hovers over the ‘ _Delete_ ’ button, she just can’t bring herself to let it go. It’s not like she hasn’t already got the image ingrained in her mind, every time she closes her eyes, she sees the tortured state of her brother, and the beaten, unconscious form of Magnus, her future Brother-in-Law; if Alec ever musters up the courage to ask him.

 _Maybe when we get them home, he’ll finally pop the question_ , Isabelle thinks with a small smile.

She has never seen her brother as happy as when he’s with Magnus; they’re perfect for each other.

“We’re approaching Roosevelt Island now,” Underhill announces from the driver’s seat, bringing Isabelle’s focus back to the road ahead.

True to his word, Isabelle blinks against the early morning sunrise and spots the crumbling roof of an abandoned building in the distance. Even from this far away, it was easy to tell that the Island was empty and abandoned. As they draw closer, Isabelle makes a note of all the windows that has been boarded up with plaster, and she clenches her hands into fists at the idea of her brother being held behind one of them.

She was just about to open her mouth to say something to Underhill when the van’s windows started to shake.

“What the…?” Underhill breathes as the rattling of the windows increases.

Isabelle spots him gripping the steering wheel tighter as the van starts to veer slightly to the left.

“What’s going on?” Clary asks from the back seat, her eyes wide as she makes sure that her seat belt is secure.

“I don’t…” Isabelle starts to say but she stops herself.

She knows exactly what is causing the rattling of the windows and she feels her the bile in her throat.

 _He’s actually gone through with it_ , she thinks as she watches the road in horror.

To the left of the building in front of them, large puffs of smoke starts to appear as debris flies from the roof, the thick rocks hammering against the windscreen as it falls, causing Underhill to veer the van to the other side as Clary lets out a terrified scream. As Underhill manages to safely put the van into park a few meters away, Isabelle opens her mouth in horror as she spots the sign hanging precariously above the entrance; _Renwick’s_.

“No…” She chokes out as she scrambles for the door handle.

“Isabelle, wait…” Underhill says, reaching out a hand to stop her but he was too slow; she was already out the door.

“ISABELLE, STOP!” Clary shouts from her place in the back of the van but it was no use.

Underhill releases a stream of curses as he unbuckles his own seat belt and shoves open the driver’s side door, he needed to catch hold of Isabelle before she did something stupid, like running into a building that was on the verge of collapse. As he quickens his pace, his stomach twists at the sight and sound of the hospital’s structure folding in on itself. With a burst of pure adrenaline, he lunges forward and grasps hold of Isabelle’s arm.

“Isabelle…” Underhill calls out, his tone full of authority.

“Let me go; I have to get to Alec!” Isabelle breathes as she struggles to break free from Underhill’s grasp.

Just as she was about to pry his fingers off of her, the whole building collapses in a large pile of rubble, the debris kicking up a mini sandstorm as it crashes to the ground. The sound of another explosive going off stops Isabelle in her tracks and she allows Underhill to pull her back a few steps and he pushes her head down under his arm in order to shield her from both the dust from the debris and the sound of the last explosion.

When it seemed as though there were no more explosives left to detonate, Isabelle shoves Underhill away, she ignores both his and Clary’s protests as she rushes forward. As she approaches the settling dust of the wreckage, three days’ worth of pain laces her tone as she yells out a single name.

“ **ALEC!** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just because October is over, doesn't mean that Whumptober has to be, so for the foreseeable future, I will be fulfilling all of your Whump-y needs :)
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments below <3 - _SoWrongItsLottie_


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